The present invention relates generally to systems for operating gas discharge lamps, and more specifically to the use of circuits which reduce power losses so as to provide substantial energy savings.
One of the major problems inherent in known systems for operating gas discharge lamps, such as fluorescent lamps, is the power dissipation which occurs due to ballast loss. In all systems known to me, a saturated inverter is used. This requires the transformer to saturate (become zero ohms) in order to "switch". This results in extreme currents in the semiconductors and requires the semiconductor to absorb all power surges. Various techniques have been proposed to partially compensate for the undesirable properties of saturated inverters. One such proposed method is to sequentially start the lamps to protect the saturated inverter semiconductors from starting surges when the transformer saturates. This type of operation uses additional energy above that required to operate the lamps.